At the risk of sounding foolish, I have just bought a 1995 E34 540I 4 litre 5 speed auto and whilst very pleased with the performance, I'm amazed that with all that power, the car cannot spin its wheels either in A mode or S mode from a standing start with or without the traction control activated.


Could it be that the traction control is permanently activated despite the warning light being correctly on, on the dashboard to suggest that it is deactivated?

Its performace after the intial "ordinary launch" is truly superb. Could it be that this car gets its power down so well that it just does not lose traction from a standing start?

It's an auto. The torque converter is supposed to prevent that sort of thing, since it puts undue stress on the car as a whole. It is, however, very easy to fishtail the thing when you are moving.

But, yes, the launches are not good in an auto, which is why most people here prefer the manuals. Not a whole lot you can realistically do about it but a swap, which is hellaciously expensive.

It is one of the reasons why I am looking for a different differential(3.64).

With 2.93 gears, it is just too high for off the line performance.

I have never been able to spin the wheels from a start, but as mentioned above, fishtailing is easy.

Your real performance is at higher speeds.

It is one of the reasons why I am looking for a different differential(3.64).

With 2.93 gears, it is just too high for off the line performance.

I have never been able to spin the wheels from a start, but as mentioned above, fishtailing is easy.

Your real performance is at higher speeds.
So you've decided to go with the 3:64? I thought you wanted the 3:15.

So you've decided to go with the 3:64? I thought you wanted the 3:15.

A 3.64 is what I want, but the money for it is where the problem is. If I can get a 3.15 for cheap enough, it will be a noticeable change.

I just need to win the lotto!

I say...save up. Buy it ONCE. 2:93 to 3:15 is adequete...but 3:15 to 3:64 OMG :eek: you'de swallow your tongue when you step on it WOT. :D

yeah, its pretty hard to get an auto to burn out without massive power. I love my e34, the 1-2 gearchange always chirps the tires at high rpm.

yeah, its pretty hard to get an auto to burn out without massive power. I love my e34, the 1-2 gearchange always chirps the tires at high rpm.

Show off :stickoutt

Thanks for the reply Xatlas0

I am not really in a position to swap it for a manual though.

Does anyone think that my traction control may be permantly on, despite what the light says on the dash? I don't notice any difference either with or without traction control in terms of standing starts?

Thanks for your help

Show off :stickoutt

what can i say, it isnt me; the 5er loves to show off. ;)

:cool

Thanks for the reply Xatlas0

I am not really in a position to swap it for a manual though.

Does anyone think that my traction control may be permantly on, despite what the light says on the dash? I don't notice any difference either with or without traction control in terms of standing starts?

Thanks for your help

Don't forget your auto also has torque management....

I don't have traction control, and you can read my previous responses on my ability to lay the rubber....

What mods are you going to do?

If you haven't seen this list, check it out..
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/Recipe.htm

The traction control is of primary import when actually moving, since it helps rectify the car's tendency to break loose when making a high speed turn. From a standing start, the automatic transmission is what kills your ability to do a burnout, not the traction control. I wish mine had it, really, since it would give me a great deal more security in the rain. Be glad you have it.

To illustrate my point, I also have a 99 540i/6. It has a slightly stronger engine, but with the mods done to the e34, the two should be of equal power. In the e39, it is incredibly easy to do a burnout, even with the traction control on. (DSC just stops the spinning very quickly, making the car kinda jerk around. Scared the heck out of me the frist time it happened.) Yet, in the e34, it is darn-near impossible to do a burnout. The only drivetrain difference is the automatic transmission and a slightly taller diff in the e34. (2.91 vs. 3.10 in the e39 if I'm not mistaken.)

xatlas0, you say that you have an E39 540/6. Do you mean an 8? I thought that E39 540's were 4.4 lt V8?

Also, you say that you can do burnouts with it. I assume that it must be a manual as I now understand that it is unlikely that autos can do "burnouts"

The E39 540 V8 produces the same power as E34 V8 and slightly more torque. The only other difference is the steptronic 5 speed auto and a slightly higher diff.

Look forward to your reply

Cheers

xatlas0, you say that you have an E39 540/6. Do you mean an 8? I thought that E39 540's were 4.4 lt V8?

Also, you say that you can do burnouts with it. I assume that it must be a manual as I now understand that it is unlikely that autos can do "burnouts"

The E39 540 V8 produces the same power as E34 V8 and slightly more torque. The only other difference is the steptronic 5 speed auto and a slightly higher diff.

Look forward to your reply

Cheers

540i/6 Means 540i - 6 Speed and yes, it can burn out on the take off, fishtail and even when I get up to 50+ mph in the 3rd gear I can get rear wheels to spin up without touching the clutch.

540i/6 Means 540i - 6 Speed and yes, it can burn out on the take off, fishtail and even when I get up to 50+ mph in the 3rd gear I can get rear wheels to spin up without touching the clutch.

OK not fair...its posts like this that make me wanna upgrade to the E39 540. Ive ONLY had the 535auto. I love it but... :(

The 6 in 540i/6 means it is a six speed manual. The motors are significantly different between the two cars, as the e34 540i has the M60 motor with the 5 speed auto gearbox. The e39 has, as you said, a 4.4L with a manual gearbox (in my car). I have two cars available to me, a 1994 540i (auto) and the 1999 540i (manual). Hence, my previous post was simply to show that it is not a matter of engine power, (as the mods to the e34 have put it at equal power to the e39) but of the drivetrain. Please ask if you would like to know anything else.

A 3.64 is what I want, but the money for it is where the problem is. If I can get a 3.15 for cheap enough, it will be a noticeable change.

I just need to win the lotto!

Mr.sd is correct.For a auto( :shifty :) ) a 3.64 is better.For the 6 speed then a 3.15.And for all you E34'ers drop in a 4.4L. :stickoutt

I think Ive put too much money into my "Automatic" I want a 5speed so bad Its HARD to spend more money on my car when Im just gonna get rid/trade/buy a manual some day.

5 gears are as handy as a bottle of "Pink Champagne" at a Sorority party. :)

5 speed 6 speed....I just want a manual trans. What I NEED to do is find somebody to buy car the same exact time I find a manual e34 for the same price :D . EL SWITCHEROOO

Hey guys,

You all seem to know your stuff pretty well. I'm quite new to this caper but am rapidly learning.

Had another idea to improve auto transmission standing starts. Is it possible to recalibrate the 5 speed auto software in the E34 540I to improve "launches"?

I really love the car and am blown away by its performance except for the first 50 meters of a standing start!

But as mentioned before, I do not want to carry put a manual auto swap at this stage.

Cheers

You can improve shift points with a Dinan tranny chip.

you can accomplish a burnout with an auto by doing a nuetral drop. Rev up in nuetral then drop into gear while stompping it. Doesn't hurt the drive train...SURE. :confused :confused

you can accomplish a burnout with an auto by doing a nuetral drop. Rev up in nuetral then drop into gear while stompping it. Doesn't hurt the drive train...SURE. :confused :confused

Whoa!!!!

Just the phrase Nuetral drop makes me scared. I don't need to burn out that bad.....

As Jimmy said, there are a few transmission control units offered by select companies, Dinan being one of them.These raise the shift points higher into the powerband, giving better performance, much like S4 does. The best stock off the line comes from S3, by the way, with S4 useable fun for driving around, albeit only for a little while, otherwise you will burn out the transmission. Also, when shifting from the S modes, you want to try and do it at or under 2k RPMs, otherwise the adaptive drive module has a hell of a time dealing with it, and it's very possible to burn out the module. (making the transmission inoperable) The car is very quick using S3 or S4, but remember, it is a 5000lb RWD car; it's not an EVO, GTR, or FD killer. (off the line, anyway. At speed, you could very well eat them alive) It is a great handling, speedy luxury car. Unless, of course, you want to dump a lot of cash into making it a ricer-killer. I think stock the car's 0-60 is something like 7-8 with an auto, and around 6 with a manual.

Rev-Dropping, as stated before, while somewhat effective, is a really good way to kill your transmission within 50 such launches. So unless you want to see parts of your transmission to be seen in your rear-window scattered on the ground, I wouldn't reccomend it.

The car is very quick using S3 or S4, but remember, it is a 5000lb RWD car; it's not an EVO, GTR, or FD killer. (off the line, anyway. At speed, you could very well eat them alive) It is a great handling, speedy luxury car. Unless, of course, you want to dump a lot of cash into making it a ricer-killer. I think stock the car's 0-60 is something like 7-8 with an auto, and around 6 with a manual.

Ok, I was with ya all the way up to the 0-60 times. I will agree with the manual in the low 6's(bmw says 6.2 I think), but I refuse to beleive I am 1-2 full seconds behind. 1-2 seconds is alot. My thought has been that I am always a half second behind a manual, probably 2-4 car lengths at worst.

So, now I have to go buy a damn stopwatch......................

How am I supposed to save up for a 3.64 LSD when these things keep happening?

I'm just reporting what others have said. Personally, I think they did the 0-60 in A D mode, which would explain the great disparity. I can keep pretty good pace with my e39 540i/6, so I completely concur with you that those times seem off by a significant margin. Of course, I've never sat down with a stopwatch and tried it, so I don't really know. Nice car by the way, sdwhitney, white just looks so good on the e34. Oh, quick question, after some spirited driving, does your gear selector column get hot? I've noticed if I really push it the thing gets hot enough to singe me. No hijack intended.

I'm just reporting what others have said. Personally, I think they did the 0-60 in A D mode, which would explain the great disparity. I can keep pretty good pace with my e39 540i/6, so I completely concur with you that those times seem off by a significant margin. Of course, I've never sat down with a stopwatch and tried it, so I don't really know. Nice car by the way, sdwhitney, white just looks so good on the e34. Oh, quick question, after some spirited driving, does your gear selector column get hot? I've noticed if I really push it the thing gets hot enough to singe me. No hijack intended.

Funny you mention the gear selector column getting hot...

On Monday night, I ran out real quick to get some olives--My Dirty Martini habit is really wearing down my Differential budget.

I see this WRX flying up behind me, I think it is the STI that passed me at 140 a couple weeks ago, so I wait for him. Turns out it is a chick(and not an STI-just a WRX) and she is racing this little civic. So I let the fly by me, and I decide to play a little. So I fly by them and slow as I am coming up to a light in hopes it would turn red to play a little more. They both come in the other lane and the civic starts revving his fart cannon and pointing as if if to challenge. I smile and the light turns green, and let it er rip. I look in the rear view to see he didn't even challenge, never even sped up, maybe he missed the light, but I was feeling good about my launch so I kept on it hard. I started to slow and came up to my turn, and I put my hand just to the side of gear selector column, and WOW, it was more than just warm, it was toasty...

Sorry for the story, just felt like sharing, and typing.

Thanks for the compliments as well.....

btw - I don't think I have seen yours....care to share?

Xatlas0 and Jimmy

Thanks

Thanks for your replys. The nuetral dumps sound a bit too risky to me! I agree that it might be asking for trouble.

Xatlas0, what do you mean by S3 and S4? And those Dinan auto mods certainly raise the shift points but I can't see them improving the "launch" performance unless they modify the torque converter settings- correct me if I am wrong.

You're right about the car, I bought it because it is a comfortable, luxury car with plenty of power. As an auto, I knew the 504I it wasn't going to be a racer. I guess I'm doing what all enthusiasts do- trying to get the most out of it, anyway!

Cheers

Xatlas0, what do you mean by S3 and S4? And those Dinan auto mods certainly raise the shift points but I can't see them improving the "launch" performance unless they modify the torque converter settings- correct me if I am wrong.


S3 and S4 are transmission shifting patterns that came with the car. You should notice on your dash near the service indicator (If the car is in drive) " A D". This means "adaptive drive" mode. The car changes various things depending on how you normally drive it. This is also the most economical mode, and what the car should be in most of the time, to prevent premature transmission failure. The gear selector should also have below D some numbers. By moving the selector to those numbers, you are changing the shift pattern to the different "sport" modes, and limiting the highest gear the car will shift to. For example, "S 4" means sport mode, and the car will not go to 5th gear. In S4, I find the car doesn't like to shift up below 3k. Driving in sport mode really brings the car to life. It feels completely different, and a whole lot more fun. On the downside, it sucks gas more than a H2 with a gas leak and causes excessive wear on the transmission. It also feels like it changes how long the torque converter is allowed to spin, as the car really jumps in S mode. I'd swear I made it chirp a few times off the line, but it was kinda heard to tell at the moment, so perhaps not.

Oh, and for sdwhitney, check the attached.

Every time I see a white E34,I want to break out and sing,"Ebony and Ivory" :)

Every time I see a white E34,I want to break out and sing,"Ebony and Ivory" :)

:stickoutt Ha, I see what you mean, but I actually prefer it that way, rather than painted. It gives the car a nice contrast as well as making it look fairly menacing. (those brake ducts just look like they will cut you in half) I remember when my dad got the car, my sister (who was 5 or so) said that the car looked like a villan because the black parts make it look like it has a goatee. :D Plus, it is far easier to keep clean, as the black lower panels are coated in a nice, thick plastic shell, so the road won't sandblast them anytime soon. They even wax up suprisingly nice.

Oh, and for sdwhitney, check the attached.

I knew we had a connection...